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One member of Canada's Snowbirds, an elite air force aerobatics team, died and another was injured Sunday after their plane crashed in British Columbia during a performance to salute public efforts against the coronavirus, the military said.

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According to local media, the plane crashed into the front yard of a house shortly after taking off from Kamloops Airport late Sunday morning along with one other plane.

"It is with heavy hearts that we announce that one member of the CF Snowbirds team has died and one has sustained serious injuries," the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) tweeted Sunday night.

They then updated the tweet, saying that the surviving member of the crash suffered injuries that "are not considered life threatening."

Provincial Health Minister Adrian Dix had tweeted earlier that one person had been taken to hospital.

Witnesses said the pilot managed to eject from the plane with a parachute before the crash. The pilot landed on the roof of a house and appeared to have suffered back and neck injuries.

In a video taken by a passer-by, the burning wreckage of the plane can be seen in front of a house. Neighbours gathered outside to try and figure out what happened.

Photos from the crash scene also appeared to show debris burning in front of a house, part of which was on fire.

"The one plane continued, and the other one… was a ball of fire," witness Annette Schonewille told Radio Canada.

"No noise, it was strange, and then the plane just did a cartwheel and fell right out of the sky. Just boom, straight down, and then a burst of black, black smoke."

Public broadcaster CBC quoted another witness, Nolyn Mcleod, as saying the plane passed about three metres (yards) over his roof.

"We saw the pilot eject like maybe two storeys high, and then the plane with no pilot in it went right between me and my neighbour's house," before finally hitting tRead More – Source

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